UPSC PRELIMINARY MOCK TEST 80

Balasaraswati was a proponent of Bharatnatyam. "

• Under Article 136, the Constitution of India gives power to the Supreme Court to grant special permission or leave to an aggrieved party to appeal against an order passed in any of the lower courts or tribunals in India
• In granting five acres of land in Ayodhya, but outside the disputed area, to Muslim parties, the Supreme Court used extraordinary powers granted to it by Article 142 of the Constitution.
• The Supreme Court, implicitly referring to the demolition of the Babri Masjid at the disputed site, said that it was invoking Article 142 "to ensure that a wrong committed must be remedied".
• Article 142(1) states that "The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe".
• The provision that vests sweeping powers in the Supreme Court for the end of ensuring "complete justice" has been used generally in cases that involve human rights and environmental protection.
• This was the first time that the court invoked this power in a case involving a civil dispute over an immovable property, involving private parties. It said that while the court's power under Article 142 "is not limitless", it "embodies both the notion of justice, equity and good conscience as well as a supplementary power to the court to effect complete justice".

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